Advantage Family Law
Child Support within High-Income Families
Experienced Calgary Lawyers for Complex Child Support
Securing Your Children's Financial Future
Our law firm focuses on marital break-down in high-net worth families. In these types of relationships, child support issues are often complex. Parents, understandably, are concerned about a change in living standards for their kids.
Your family may have a business, trusts or investments which are intertwined with family income and the economic well-being of the children.
We offer tailored solutions to help ensure your children are financially taken care of. Our firm helps you understand the realities of child support, while also ensuring it is paid and received in a timely manner.
Child Support Demands Financial & Legal Expertise
In high-net-worth families, child support claims require not just legal knowledge, but also financial expertise. In these types of cases, child support calculations are often based on family income that is difficult to ascertain. Family businesses, property, and other assets may complicate the analysis of what constitutes a “fair amount” of child support.
Advantage Family Law has the legal and business experience needed to fairly assess child support. Christopher Bungay, our owner and founder, has been practicing law since 2003. Mr. Bungay is not just a lawyer– he is also a successful business owner, entrepreneur, and investor. In other words, he is legally and financially literate, with a deep understanding of the crucial financial issues underlying every child support claim.
Christopher also places strong emphasis on the privacy of his clients’ personal lives. He understands that most divorcing couples want to separate and move on with their lives discreetly and respectfully. In this regard, Christopher’s divorce practice focuses on resolving your case in a manner that avoids public courtrooms. As a qualified family mediator, Mr. Bungay guides his clients through dispute resolution, settling their cases quietly and confidentially.
Outside of law, Christopher and his family enjoy life on an acreage in Northwest Calgary. When he is not working or with his family, Chris serves the community through his involvement with the charity Sober Kids Canada. He is also an active member of the Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of Alberta.
Christopher Bungay
Divorce lawyer
Maintaining Your Child's High Standard of Living
Children in wealthier families often have a high standard of living; our goal is to maintain that after the divorce. As long as one spouse continues to earn a significant income, your child should be entitled to have the same lifestyle they enjoyed before their parents separated.
We carry out a full analysis of your family’s income and assets. As part of any divorce settlement, we ensure a sizable portion of income and assets are used to take care of the present and future needs of your children.
Protecting Your Child's Education & Future After Divorce
Funding Private Education and Sports
In higher-net-worth families, the costs of education and sports can be significant. Many children in these families attend private school. Similarly, your child may be involved in elite sports, which can be costly to fund.
We carry out a detailed assessment that includes all the financial needs unique to your child. Our goal is to ensure that your child’s private education and extra-curricular activities continue after the divorce.
Protecting Your Child’s Future
After a divorce, parents have an obligation to provide for their children’s future needs. If your child is destined for university, parents must support this endeavour after the divorce. As part of any divorce analysis, we estimate present and future educational costs. We ensure that university costs are paid fairly, in accordance with each parent’s income and the family’s overall assets.
Facts That Determine
Child Support
No family is easy and straightforward. Similarly, figuring out child support after a family breaks up is complex. Advantage Family Law gets to know you and examines all of your family information to determine your child support rights.
Time spent with children after separation
How much you owe or receive for child support is determined, in part, by which parent cares for the children/lives with them most of the time. For example, if one parent has the children most of the time, that parent will almost certainly be owed the full amount of child support payable by law. However, if you and your ex-spouse share custody of the children, the amount owed by one or each of you may be lower than if one of you had the children full-time.
Income of each spouse
The amount each spouse earns is an important factor in determining how much is payable for child support. If a parent owes child support, the law looks at their income amount and based on that, sets out a clear requirement for how much he/she must pay.
The income of each spouse is also important when time with the kids is shared between the parents. The following example may be helpful to explain this: Parent A has the children for 60% of the time, and earns $50,000 per year. Parent B has the children 40% of the time, but earns $125,000 per year. In these circumstances, Parent B would still be required to pay a higher amount for child support because Parent B’s income is much higher than Parent A.
Ability to earn income
Child Support obligations are determined not only by reported income (tax returns) but also by a parent’s ability to earn income. For example, if one parent owns a business and is paid in different ways through that business, the business income itself may be used by a judge to determine that parent’s real income. Also, if a parent makes less in one year than in the past, a judge can use the average of past years of income to arrive at a higher number for child support rather than base it on one year’s past income.
The law also does not allow a parent to work less than they can or to pretend they cannot make more money. After separation, each parent has a legal obligation to strive to be self-sufficient and to support their children. In circumstances where one parent’s ability to earn is higher than they are reporting, a judge can determine their actual income is higher for the purpose of determining amounts owing for child support. This applies to both the person paying and the person receiving child support.
Frequently Asked Questions
My ex-spouse is not paying any child support. What are my options?
If your former spouse is not paying any child support, our law firm files documents with the Court and asks a judge to order payment of child support. If there is already a Court order for payment, and your ex-spouse is refusing to pay, we can help you access legal tools to force payment. These tools include the following:
- Obtaining an order/direction that your ex-spouse’s wages be garnished (meaning a portion of his/her pay cheque would be directed to you instead of going directly to him/her).
- Requesting that his/her driver’s license be suspended until child support is paid.
- Asking that his/her assets be seized (bank accounts, tax refunds etc.) and that this money be paid to you instead of to him/her.
What if my life situation has changed and I can no longer pay child support?
If you have been ordered to pay child support, but your life has changed in a big way, we can ask a judge to lower the amount you must pay. For example, if you have become disabled/sick, the Court may permit you to pay less than you normally could when you were healthy and working full time.
What impact does child support have on my taxes?
In most cases, child support has no impact on your tax obligations. If you pay child support, the law says that what you pay is not tax deductible. Similarly, if you receive child support, you are not taxed on any child support payments you receive.
Why choose Advantage Family Law?
We are a small family of legal professionals. We know your children are important, and we do our best to make sure their rights are respected. However, in this process, you must be treated fairly by the law. Our mission is to ensure the law and your ex-spouse treat you fairly.